


City Beneath the Sea

by coachellazarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Harry Styles - Freeform, New Orleans, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 19:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6389773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coachellazarry/pseuds/coachellazarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is just a short story I wrote one day. Let it be noted that Harry does have a different accent in this story as he was just an inspiration for looks.</p>
    </blockquote>





	City Beneath the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short story I wrote one day. Let it be noted that Harry does have a different accent in this story as he was just an inspiration for looks.

The lights of New Orleans flashed around Helene as she watched him stalk his prey from the shadows. His back was turned toward her, but she knew the unmistakable curve of his shoulders and his hard to miss hair, something that was uncommon among his kind. It was deep chocolate brown in color and fell just below his shoulders, curling in such a way that made Helene jealous. She had never seen him from anything other than a far distance, knowing he would be able to identify her by her scent alone, which could lead to detrimental things happening to not only her, but her clan as well, so she couldn’t make out more than that. You see, Helene’s clan was not allowed in certain areas of the city, but the second she caught a glance of the boy, she instantly became fascinated with him, and against every sane bone in her body, she continued to follow him through the streets, watching him lure, catch and devour his prey. Helene was intrigued with the way he made everything look so effortless, his looks no doubt playing a part in his hunt.  
Helene watched as the boy, whose name she had yet to learn, crept out of the shadows, sliding a hand through his hair; pushing it off of his forehead. She watched as his hand travelled from his hair to the lapels of his semi-formal blazer, adjusting it slightly to reveal more of the red blouse he was wearing underneath, before sliding into the pocket of his jeans. Helene observed as he walked over to a woman, clearly inebriated because she was tripping over her own feet, whose foot had gotten caught in a gutter from where she was waiting on a taxi, and offered her a hand. Helene had noticed that every victim the boy had, he managed to get skin on skin contact with, and she wondered if that was part of how he lured them into his trap. The woman seemed more than happy to allow the, admittedly, attractive man help her untangle her foot from the gutter. Helene watched as he spoke with her more, not being able to make out what they were saying from the distance at which she watched them, before he held out his arm, to which Helene assumed he offered to walk her back to her house. Helene chuckled to herself at the thought, knowing she would never make it down the block, much less back to her home.  
When the two started to walk down the sidewalk, Helene followed, careful to keep a distance between herself and the odd couple. She watched as the boy turned abruptly down an ally that Helene knew had no end. She quickly crossed the street where she could get a better view to watch what would happen next, thankful that the odd hour of the morning allowed for less people to be about, making it easier for her to see across the street. From her position, Helene could see the boy lightly push the woman against the wall, her mind no doubt filling with sinful thoughts. Helene let out another chuckle, already having witnessed what was about to happen dozens of times, knowing that should wouldn’t be alive to see the sunrise. Helene should have been remorseful, disgusted even, but she had been around for too long and had seen far too many things to have those feelings anymore, instead she was filled with an intense fascination at how his kind worked.  
She watched as the boy lowered his head to the woman’s ear, no doubt whispering dirty secrets that she would never have the chance at revealing. In one quick motion, his hand had attached itself to the hair at the base of her neck, while his head had moved to her neck. Helene saw the motion his jaw made as it opened just enough for him to bite the woman with a sickening sound that Helene could hear from across the street due to her enhanced hearing. She watched in awe as he slowly drained the life out of the unidentified woman, his free hand moving from the wall to wrap around her waist as she started to become less and less stable, her knees buckling and her body becoming putty in his arms. The boy turned their bodies to the side so he could lean his shoulder against the building beside them, making it look to the innocent bystander that they were a young couple in love, but Helene knew different. She knew that in about five minutes time the woman would be dead, and there would be another body in the cemetery by the end of the week. She knew her clan would be preparing a ritual to help the body cross into the afterlife as soon as the morning came and she would have to once again pretend to not know about the news already.  
Helene was so caught up in her thoughts about the next day that she hadn’t noticed the boy had dropped the woman’s body unceremoniously and he was staring at her, the woman’s blood dripping from his partially opened mouth. She didn’t know what to do, she had never been caught, and for some reason she was unable to solicit a response from her frozen muscles even though her mind screamed at her to run. What she had failed to realize though, was that the boy already knew she had been following him, he had actually known for quite some time, but the same thing that had kept her watching him, had kept him from doing anything about it. For some reason, he liked the feeling, loved it actually. Loved knowing that there was someone out there who wasn’t afraid of what he was and didn’t run away, even after watching him feed on several occasions. So when he noticed she had yet to leave, he decided to finally look at her, really look at her. He had caught glimpses here and there out of the corner of his eye, but he had never fully looked at her until that moment, and she seemed terrified once she realized he was staring at her. It wasn’t a surprise to him really when he felt, rather than heard, her heartbeat pick up, a clear sign of the panic that was surely flooding her system at the thought of this dangerous creature finally getting a look at her. The boy smirked a bit, satisfied that he could get her heart racing, but unhappy that he knew nothing of the girl who had, apparently, been a big fan of his. He decided on a whim that he would go over to her, knowing that his kind and hers were not supposed to interact, but his kind had this part of the city at night, so he wasn’t crossing any boundaries, she was. Which was exactly the reason Helene started to panic in the first place. If her clan found out that she had been outside of their designated area of the city at night, she would surely be punished in a way that would seem unethical to most people. She knew that his kind had the city at night, and she had willingly disregarded those rules to follow this boy whom she had never met. The odds were all stacking against her, it seemed, and her panic was not eased when she saw the boy start to walk across the street, wiping the now dead woman’s blood off of his face with his red shirt, which, Helene noticed, was probably the reason he had decided on the color in the first place.  
The closer he got to her, the more he realised how stunning she was, her features were soft, and she had this look of innocence, standing there in skinny jeans and a white sweater that seemed two sizes too big for her, but he could tell that she was far from innocent. He easily caught her scent as a breeze drifted through the nearly deserted street. His first thought should have been disgust, for his kind and her kind had never mingled well together, in fact, he should have almost wanted to kill her, instead he felt curiosity. He wondered why she had decided to follow him continuously, especially knowing what he was.  
When he finally made it across the street and he was standing in front of her, he could feel how fast her heart was beating, almost as if it were his heart doing the beating instead, which he knew was impossible for his heart had stopped beating long ago. He paused for a moment, studying her.  
“Hello, little witch,” he greeted, his mouth growing into a crooked smirk.  
Helene’s breath nearly caught in her throat, not at all expecting him to come over to her much less greet her, and even lesser, to greet her by stating out loud what she was. Her eyes opened in panic at the fear that another one of his kind could be lurking around, so she quickly glanced around the brick corner of the old bar that she had hidden behind, noticing that the only movement was from the bar owners up and down the street cleaning up their shops.  
“If you’re wonderin’ as to whether or not I’m alone, the answer is yes, I am alone,” he said smoothly, his accent slightly catching her off guard. It sounded a bit Scottish, with a hint of the London accent that she had grown accustomed to during her time overseas.  
Helene leaned back around the corner, her back to the wall as she quietly observed the man in front of her. He was taller than she had originally thought, and he was very slender, which made sense, she had never met one of his kind before that had not been slim. She also noticed that his eyes were forest green, a color that must have been hauntingly beautiful in the daylight. Her gaze travelled over his nose and down to his lips, which were the color of an Ingrid Bergman rose, no doubt due to the blood he had carelessly wiped away only moments before. As her gaze was travelling over the rest of his person, taking in his features, he spoke.  
“Y’know, you’re really not supposed to be in the Quarter at this time of night, darlin’,” she glanced back up at him to see a smirk plastered on his face, making her heart rate pick back up at the thought of what would happen to her if anyone were to find out where she was. He must have noticed how this affected her because his smile almost instantly dropped, setting his face into a somber expression.  
“I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” He muttered, not wanting to risk her getting killed by his kind, his intense fascination with her overpowering the instinct to tell the informal “leader” of his kind.  
As much as Helene wanted to simply mutter a few ancient words and make him forget seeing her, she didn’t. Instead she opted to believe his promise, even though every sane bone in her body was telling her otherwise. His kind was not to be trusted, but she couldn’t help taking the risk.  
“If you don’t mind me askin’ love, why are you here anyway? You’ve been followin’ me for weeks, yet you ‘aven’t approached me. Why is that?” He questioned.  
“How long have you known I was following you?” She shot back, completely ignoring his questions, and instead asking one of her own.  
“I believe I asked you a question first, but since you asked, I’ve known since the second time you watched me feed. Your kind aren’t really that conspicuous.” His smirk was back, and Helene wanted nothing more than to see it be wiped off of his face, whether by her hand or her magic it did not matter.  
“My kind aren’t conspicuous? I do believe you are the ones who feed on innocent people, not us.” She crossed her arms over her chest, lifting one eyebrow up, silently daring him to challenge her claim.  
“You ‘ave a point, love, but you witches ‘ave this certain smell about you. We can pick it out from a mile away, so yes my kind does eat people, but your kind stand out too, just not t’ humans.” He reciprocated her stance as he crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow. Helene sighed in defeat, knowing that he was, in fact, very much right.  
They stared each other down for a moment that, to Helene, seemed to stretch on for eternity. She gazed at him again, noticing that his chest seemed to rise and fall with breath, even though she knew for a fact that his kind no longer needed the oxygen that kept the rest of the plant alive. She put it down to a habit because, after all, his kind were made from the once-living. She glanced back up at his face when she noticed he had shifted from one foot to the other, noting a hint of curiosity within his eyes. She was a bit surprised, figuring she was the only curious one here, but before she could voice her thoughts on his interest, he spoke a low warning.  
“Y’really should get goin’ love, it gets dangerous when you think everyone’s gone. Including m’self.” The boy had uncrossed his arms by now, and was gesturing to the now empty street.  
“The real monsters come out when everyone thinks they’re safe.”  
Helene looked up at him, his lips wiped clean of their smirk, but his eyes telling her she needed to get back to the Tremé. She took his serious expression as a warning, and immediately started backing away, trying to make sense of how much had happened in such a short amount of time. She spared a glance back across the street, seeing the woman’s body lying in an unnatural heap, knowing the same fate would be in store for her if she decided to push her luck and risk a few more moments in the Quarter. Just as she was turning away from him, she heard his voice, so low that it was almost a whisper, “Don’ let me catch you followin’ me again. I can control myself, but I can’t say the same for the rest of ‘em,” his voice sent shivers down her spine as she briskly walked the remaining blocks out of the Quarter, knowing that would be the last time she would ever see the enthralling boy again.


End file.
